


A Small Nudge

by Kawari091



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26097094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawari091/pseuds/Kawari091
Summary: One Shot; It's finals season at Konoha University and as a last hurrah, Naruto tries to play matchmaker for Sasuke & Sakura. But why does the sight of the two getting along suddenly make his heart hurt?
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 73





	A Small Nudge

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Naruto; property of Kishimoto 
> 
> Unbeta-ed and new to AO3; Just wanted a write a fun piece about my favorite couple. 
> 
> Story is about two boys who like (or dare I say - are in love) with each other  
> If not your cup of tea, please avoid.

Naruto wasn’t particularly thrilled but he cared for Sakura, so he agreed to befriend Sasuke so that she could have an opportunity to be close to her crush; he didn’t think too much of it. But now his chest oddly hurts when he watches Sasuke and Sakura get closer and closer. 

\----  
Konoha University’s library was jam packed with students cramming for their finals. End of semester was in full swing and everybody was feeling the strain. The spring air that hinted at the fun summer days to come only made things worse. It was difficult to care about those academic hurdles when the need to slack off and the desire to go to beach was too strong. For Naruto, today was his last final ever and he was ready graduate college and be free from these school shackles forever. But before that, there were two things he needed to do. One, take a test. Two, get Sasuke to come out for drink as per his promise to his best friend, Sakura. Being one of those last days, Naruto felt this was probably his last chance before his slippery friend would cut him out of his life, being the antisocial jerk that he was. 

Like everybody and their mother, he knew Sasuke was at the library. It took a while, but Naruto finally spotted the duck butt hairstyle he’d know from anywhere. He saw that Sasuke managed to get a study cubby tucked away in the far-flung corner. Not really surprising, since the brunette did like his solitude. Naruto weaved through the furiously studying students until he finally got to his quarry. 

“Hey,” Naruto whispered, as he tugged at the raven-haired boy’s hoodie. Sasuke shot him a glare, clearly agitated from being disturbed while he was in the middle of writing a paragraph for his thesis. Naruto gave him a sheepish grin, “Sorry, but are you going to be finished tonight?” 

Sasuke quirked an inquisitive brow. “This paper’s due by nine, should be done before then.” 

“Really? Great! I’m going to blow off steam by going to Fitz’s later. You interested?”

“You came all this way just to ask me out on a date? A text message would have sufficed.” 

“I’m being gentlemanly – another dying art thanks to your ungrateful attitude. But, also it’s hard to say no when I’m in your face.” Naruto mustered up his puppy face and utilizing this trick of his which made his blue eyes extra sparkly for maximum effect. Sasuke blinked, clearly unfazed as Naruto knew he would be, but still found it fun to press on. 

“I’ll think about it.” And, that was as good of an answer you’d get from a guy like Sasuke. Naruto grinned with satisfaction. 

“Anyway, I need to finish cramming for my Econ final that’s coming up at 5. Want to scooch over?” 

Sasuke scowled and looked like he was going to say no. The cubby was small and could barely fit two laptops across. But when Sasuke scanned around and saw there really was no open space, he sighed and slid his chair slightly over. “Grab a chair, if you can find one, dobe.” 

Naruto grinned widely as he put his backpack down on the floor. “You’re the best, Sasuke” as he scrambled to find one. 

For hours, the two sat side-by-side in silence, each furiously working on their respective deadline. Naruto felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. The alarm he set to remind himself thirty minutes before his exam was going off. Naruto jumped up from his seat and started to shovel in books, papers, and notes into his bag. 

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Naruto cursed under his breath, “I’m so not ready for this AT ALL.” 

“Text me when you’re done. You’ll probably need a shoulder to cry on. I heard Raido’s econ finals were no joke,” Sasuke muttered, his eyes still on his laptop, fingers typing, and a small smirk gracing his features.

“NOT HELPING!” He yelled behind him, forgetting that he was in a library. A few people shot an annoyed glare at the blonde ruckus and then returned to what they were doing. 

\---- 

Two painful hours later, Naruto exited the lecture hall, deflated. The exam took a lot out of him. He thought he was prepared but first five questions in, he was gravely mistaken. The last hour he pulled out answers from his ass; hastily sketching out supply and demand charts and squeezing in vaguely economic terms in his long-answers, while furiously praying under his breath that he'd scrape through with a passing grade. It amazed him how little he could recall Raido ever discussing half the topics that came up. ‘This is why I get called an idiot, idiot.’ Naruto thought and allowed his self-loathing to consume him. Sighing, he fished out his phone and saw a message from Sasuke. It read, ‘At Fitz’s.’ It was sent ten minutes ago. Despite himself, he brightened up. ‘Let’s not think about grades. It’s time to let loose.’ 

The bar was alive with students in all different ranges of drunk, celebrating their end of year. He caught sight of a fellow classmate from Raido’s class, who already had a beer in hand. From a far, they nodded to each other, acknowledging their shared grievances with the final. Naruto continued to the bar, while his eyes scanned for Sasuke. It seemed like a thing he now always did, wherever he went. Always searching for ….

He felt a hand grasp his shoulder. It was Sasuke, who looked more relax than he had ever seen him. 

“This rounds on me. Do you want a shot? Looks like you need one.” 

“Bruh – You have no idea!” Naruto turned to the bar and saw the bartender awaiting his order, “Could we get two doubles of Jameson, please?” The bartender nodded and reached below for the green glass bottle. 

“Doubles, eh? Is it going to be that kind of night?” 

“Sir,” Naruto started, looking deadly serious, “It’s always that kind of night – whenever the drinks are on your tab.” 

“I have a card down - Uchiha,” Sasuke supplied to the bartender, “But you can take back one of those shots.”

“He’s joking,’ Naruto laughed, as he blocked the bartender from removing one of the glasses. “Thank you, my good man.” He smiled at the bartender, who smiled back and went down to see another patron. Naruto took the two glasses from the bar and handed one to Sasuke.

“CHEERS!”  
“Cheers.” 

The two clanked glasses and gulped down the fiery brown liquid all one go. Naruto and Sasuke were eyeing each other competitively. Neither wanting to show pain as the alcohol scalded the back of their throats or be the first to reach for a chaser as the full taste of the whiskey assaulted their tongues. 

“Feel better?” Sasuke asked as he gave Naruto his trademark smirk. 

“Somewhat, I think I need another round on you for me to fully forget that I totally bombed my test.” 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Pretty pathetic ploy to milk me for drinks.” He said, but still ordered another round anyway. 

\---- 

Now with beers in hand, they waded through the crowd towards the back of the bar. Naruto was looking for the dartboard but was disappointed to see it already occupied. 

“So… uh… I called out one of my friends. I think you know her – Sakura?”  
“Hn” Sasuke grunted as he took a long sip of beer.  
“Thought it’d be fun if all three of us hung out.”  
Sasuke shrugged disinterestedly. “If you say so… Since you like her, I’ll hang.”  
“I mean, I like her as a friend,” Naruto said, emphasizing on the ‘friend’ part “I do care about her a lot and you know…” His voice trailed off. Naruto didn’t know why, but suddenly he felt awkward and didn’t want to finish his sentence.  
“I get it. You want a hangout amongst friends.” Sasuke looked at him coolly, taking another drawn out sip of his beer. 

They sat in an awkward silence for what it seemed like an eternity to Naruto. To his relief, his phone rang. Almost too quickly, Naruto picked up and pressed the phone to his ear, “Hello? Sakura-Chan? Yeah – We’re in the back. Okay, cool. See you in a minute.” ‘Why am I sounding so flustered.’ 

“She’s here!”  
“Cool.” 

Again, another awkward silence.

“Naruto!” Sakura called out, waving. She was a little breathless and out of sorts, but still very pretty. She was wearing a tight red top with tighter black pants with her pink hair pulled back in a loose bun. “Oh, hi Sa-Sasuke-kun.” 

“Nice – feigning surprise. Sakura-chan is a pretty good actress.’ Naruto thought idly as he watched over the exchange between the two. Sakura was blushing as she sat herself to Sasuke’s other side. It was the first time she was able to interact with Sasuke like this, and she was over the moon about it. Naruto almost felt embarrassed for her while she eagerly tried to engage Sasuke in small talk, while pressing her body close to his. To Naruto’s surprise, Sasuke doesn’t push her away. Even more surprising, Sasuke gave one or two curt responses to her every ten questions. He was actually having a conversation! Sakura looked absolutely ecstatic. 

“Going to get us a round,” he muttered, but he knew his words fell on deaf ears. 

At the bar, he caught the eye of the bartender. As he walked over, Naruto noticed for the first time that he was a very good-looking man in his mid-twenties. He must be getting buzzed, if he was feeling bold enough to blatantly check someone out. The guy seemed to sense Naruto’s admiration and smile quite sexily. 

“Another round of beers?” 

Naruto nodded, as he, to pass the seconds that seem to stretch longer than usual, looked up at the television screen displaying some type of sports game. He tried to fix his attention on the ball being passed between the players, desperately trying not to think about the two in the back. The bartender went about filling up three glasses. 

“Thought you guys were together, but I guess not?” the bartender asked, as he nodded to Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto turned crimson and stammered, “Wha-What? N-NO!” 

The bartender looked deeply into Naruto’s eyes as if to size him up. The perceptiveness in his eyes made Naruto feel very exposed. A small smile crept on his face. “You’re pretty cute. Can I give you my number? My name is Shikamaru, by the way.” 

Naruto didn’t know he could turn any redder, but he did. 

“Umm.. Hi Shikamaru. I’m Naruto.” 

“Nice to meet you, though I think I do see you around here from time to time. Hard to ignore that shock of yellow hair.” Shikamaru said as he wrote down his number on a piece of paper and slipped it to the beet-faced blonde. “Anyway, got to get back to work. Call me maybe?” 

Shikamaru was already at the other side of the bar, taking orders. Naruto pocketed his number before he balanced the three beers and made his way back. 

‘What could hurt—’ 

Naruto’s thought was cut short as Sakura brushed past him, nearly knocking the beers out of his hands. 

“Sakura-chan?” Naruto yelled after her, “What’s going on?” But she ignored him. Naruto hastened after her, “HEY!” he shouted, trying to catch her attention. It was too late, Sakura had run out of the bar. 

Naruto saw red and stormed over to Sasuke, slamming the beers down on the table. 

“Sasuke – what the fuck just happened? What did you do to Sakura-chan?” 

“Hm? Nothing.” 

From that unfeeling tone alone, Naruto nearly throttled him. 

<< Rewinding back <<

\---- SASUKE POV ----

Naruto has many good traits, but that guy is a fucking idiot. Why did he invite Sakura? 

When he had asked me to come out this afternoon, I had thought… NEVERMIND what I thought. But, I never expected he wanted Sakura to hang out with us tonight. 

And things were going so well too. I mean, I finally submitted my thesis that I’ve been working on for the past three months. It felt good to finally be rid of that damn thing. If I had to read another academic paper about the historical importance of the Senju Conflicts by fuck-face-mcgee, I swear, I’d lose it. 

Just getting to shoot the shit with Naruto felt like a good palate cleanser to all that paper writing. But, what did I expect? The short answer is, don’t try to guess what he’ll do. He’s so unpredictable, which can be both good and bad things, depending on his level of stupidity at the time. But, today… He’s the fucking worst. 

Was wanting a relaxing night too much to ask for? 

But also… it kind of hurts? Even though, Naruto and I are friends, there are certain topics that are never broached on. Feelings? Romantic Feelings? When do two dudes who are too busy throwing punches and chatting aimlessly about that violent first-person shooter game that came out, naturally transition into talking about our feelings?

But not going to lie, I have always been curious about Naruto’s feelings for Sakura. From a distance, it looks like Naruto was in love with her. Calling her out tonight, only solidifies his feelings towards that girl. 

“… I like her as a friend…” 

Suddenly, my mood is uplifted. Oh, what the hell?

There’s this box inside me that’s jam packed filled with things that fall under the category named “Things I’d Rather Not Deal With Right Now.” Time to time, something drastic happens which rips off that tightly sealed lid… like receiving the full blast of that moron’s smile…. 

Ugh, I don’t want to think right now. Not with him looking awkward and a little shy. And now my heart is beating fast and I think he looks pretty cute right now. It should make me laugh. But, it doesn’t. What changed? I’ve known him since we were kids and we were sworn enemies the moment we clapped eyes. I’ve laughed in his face when he fell out of the tree and broke his leg, and laughed even harder when he struggled to maneuver around with a cast. He too laughed at my miseries. It was what we did. 

Oh great, Sakura is here. What is she wearing? Most certainly, not leaving me anything to the imagination. Does she need to sit this close? 

From the corner of my eye, I watch Naruto excuse himself to get more drinks. I wanted to cry out, “don’t leave me with her.” But I hold back. She’s Naruto’s friend. There were times when I needed to play nice. 

She kept asking me questions and it was getting tiring for me. So I’ve decided to throw one at her and hoped she’d prattle on and didn’t need me to respond back. 

“So, what have you been up to?” 

Her green eyes lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. She looked a little too happy to be asked a simple question. Does she not have people who care enough about her to ask her this? 

“I’m two years in my four-year residency at Konoha Hospital. It’s hard work, but I like it there a lot.” She gushed. Meanwhile, my eyes follow Naruto to the bar. I throw in a nod and a “uh-huh” or a “wow” here and there so she’d be encouraged to continue, freeing me up so I can continue the bartender give Naruto a seductive smile. Even from this distance, I can see that usuratonkachi blush. Now that I think about it, I always assumed Naruto was straight, but right now… With Naruto not having an averse reaction…

“Hey,” I interrupted Sakura’s word vomit, “Is Naruto gay?” I tried to ask in the most apathetic way possible. 

She traces my gaze to the bar, together we watch the little exchange. 

Sakura shrugs dismissively, “Yeap. But doesn’t bring it up really. Even I forget sometimes. But mainly because we don’t really talk about sex and stuff.” 

“Anyway, things do get tough at the hospital. Having friends helps! Luckily one of my friends…” Without skipping a beat, Sakura forced the spotlight onto herself. Meanwhile, I’m more interested in what Naruto will do with that guy’s number. 

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely floored by this revelation. Naruto is gay. How could I not see this? Maybe I wasn’t looking properly? 

“So… Sasuke-kun, I was wondering if you’d like to grab dinner sometime soon?” 

She looked so hopeful that even my frozen heart felt a little pang of guilt. Such a shame.

“Yeah, sorry, Sakura. I’m into Naruto.” 

Her eyes widened in saucers from the shock. Hmm… I could have been a little gentler with my rejection. But sometimes it’s good to just be frank. I said nothing further and simply continued to observe her face undergo all different shades of red, purple, and white. No longer able to withstand my stubborn silence and her growing embarrassment, she bolted up and ran past Naruto without saying bye. I sigh, watching her behave that way towards Naruto reminded me why I could never warm up to Sakura. People say I’m a cold bastard because I’m quiet. But I’ve seen her behave cruelly towards people she called ‘friends’ like Naruto and even Ino. I’d take cold over cruel any day. 

I nearly applauded Naruto for being able to bring three beers to the table intact. But his face and the evident rage in eyes made me hold back my usual smartass remarks. “What the hell did you do the Sakura-Chan.”

Eh – There’s always room for a little jab; a little button pushing. 

“Hm? Nothing.” I hear myself say. Finding some pleasure as the gasoline hit the lighted match. 

>>> Resume >>>

Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s shirt that was peeked through his hoodie. 

“She looked really upset. What did you say to her?” Naruto growled. 

“Why don’t you call her instead of interrogating me?” Sasuke asked smoothly, as he reached for the beer. Naruto swatted away Sasuke’s hand, stopping him. 

“She won’t pick up when she’s in that kind of mood,” Naruto grumbled. 

“Some friend, huh?” Sasuke uttered under his breath, unable to stop himself from expressing his disdain for the pink-haired ‘friend.’ 

“She’s full of fire. I don’t hold it against her.”

“Maybe you should? She treads on you and I…” Sasuke paused and looked confused as if he suddenly lost the thread of his thoughts. But it caught Naruto’s interest. 

A teasing smile spread over the blonde’s face; unable to resist a good opportunity to poke at the brunette. 

“What?” Naruto goaded, elbowing him. “Seems like you wanted to say something important.” 

Sasuke threw him an icy glare. 

“Nice try, Sasuke,” Naruto said, his grin getting ever wider. “Your glares can work their magic elsewhere. But with me, you’re going to need something a little more potent.” 

A dark and uncharacteristically mischievous glint from Sasuke’s gaze halted Naruto mid-joke. His dark brow arched upwards. Pretending to look deep in thought, Sasuke said “Something more potent, eh?” 

Suddenly Naruto’s throat felt dry. Was the alcohol finally taking effect? The bar suddenly seemed to increase in volume while everyone in it suddenly moved slower. Sasuke was leaning in and Naruto’s heart began to beat faster. 

Naruto could only stare and be mesmerized as Sasuke looked deeply into his eyes as he inched closer.  
Oh, Sasuke’s eyes. So dark they seemed black. They hypnotized him. It wasn’t just the color that made his heart stop. It was how he looked at him right now. Thoughtful. Yearning. Lustful. 

Sasuke reached out and gently laid his hand on Naruto’s chin, pulling his face upwards so that their faces could be closer. 

“Can I kiss you?” Naruto whispered, feeling dumb and overtaken by this hold that Sasuke had on him right now. 

Sasuke looked like he was going to burst out laughing. Being this physically close together seemed to open up the Uchiha and reveal a new side of himself that Naruto had never seen during the years they’ve known each other. It made Naruto thirsty for more. To know who Sasuke was more. 

“You can, if you want to.” Sasuke in a small husky voice that seemed only reserved for him. 

“Oh… I want to.” Naruto said and he closed the gap between them. 

They didn’t know how long they stayed at the bar that night. Tongue-tied and lost in each other. The bar noises, the TV noises screaming with every goal made, everything fell away into a hum. All that consumed their senses was the taste of each other, the smell of their colognes, and the heat of their bodies pressed eagerly against each other. It was a long time coming. They only just realized that for a very long time, they’ve been waiting for this moment. 

Their need for each other reached a fever pitch and they eagerly sought out a more private venue. Their hands clasped together, they headed for the exit. But before they could, they heard Shikamaru beckoning them to the bar. He looked very pleased with himself. Naruto looked apologetic and Sasuke looked like he was ready to fight. But then – 

“Oh, I see my ploy worked?”

“What…” 

“Sorry, I’m already taken… Just thought you guys needed a nudge.”

Shikamaru winked at the dumbfounded pair, but after seeing the frozen pair still rooted at the same spot. He laughed, “Don’t you guys have something more important to do?” 

_____ 

A/N: It's been a very long time since I've written anything and just wanted to bang out this one-shot out to get a feel for this whole 'writing' business. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! (but please be gentle TT-TT)


End file.
